Hotel Reviews

Fallon, NV
Econo Lodge - They have a room for 6 people. Three full size beds. It was nice size, the one full size bed is actually in its own room. The breakfast wasn't the best. They did have hot chocolate so the kids loved it. Under $100 with AAA

Anaheim, NV
Homewood Suites - I love this hotel. This is the second time we have stayed here. It's about 1 min from Disneyland. They have a suite that will sleep 6 and a mini kitchen. Every morning they have a FULL breakfast. Monday thru Thursday they have a Manager's Reception which means a dinner from 5 - 7 pm. You only have to deal with lunch. 5 days under $800 with AAA

Las Vegas, NV
Rodeway Inn - They are really big rooms but their breakfast is nonexistent. I would stay again knowing that I would have to find breakfast. I book a room for six people and we ended up with two rooms. At $100 with AAA

Salt Lake City Airport
Hyatt Place - This hotel reminded me of the one we staying in Rock Springs, WY. They are wonderful. Large rooms that sleep six. It's hard to find a hotel in SL that will sleep six in a room. FULL breakfast in the morning. They have the latest checkout that I've seen, noon. Under $100 with AAA

Disneyland #3

We ran away for Thanksgiving again this year. We are wanting warmer weather. This was our first vacation without Mikah. He needed to stay home and work. We drove to the big town of Fallon, NV for the first night and then into Anaheim.

I was a different feeling this time. We didn't get up early to get in. On Monday, it was packed and the first time we went was spring break. A lot of the rides were having problems. So we got into the groove of fast passing it. I did bring my kindle, so while standing in line I read a book. The nice thing was the kids are older and so we don't have to do half the park.

He it all of our favorites over the next few days. Cami go soaked on Splash Mountain. Disney California is under going some renovations for spring of 2012. So it didn't take all day to do the park. They added a cool water show.

We came home via Las Vegas and Salt Lake. I've been to vegas the last three years. You can only do some much if you don't drink and/or gamble. James, Cami and Alexia walked the full strip. I quit about halfway through.

Saturday we went to the lights at temple square and they were packed It was a cold night. It was nice to see all the different creches, lanterns and lights.

I was ready to get home. I must be getting old, six hours in a car is starting to be too long of a ride.

Thanksgiving

For our actual Thanksgiving day, we just hung out and played in the pool and some slept. (Connor) We went to the Tournament of Kings. It's a medieval jousting show with food. I didn't want to cook. It was a better show than the one I saw with Anna in Vegas.

Summer Vacation - Day 9

Rock Springs, WY (10 hrs - 696 miles)

HOTEL: Holiday Inn Express *****
Review: This was the nicest hotel that we stayed at the whole trip. They have a full, hot continental breakfast.

Summer Vacation - Day 8

Lincoln, NE (7 hours - 442)

HOTEL: Best Western Crown Inn ****
Review: Beds were nice. Quiet part of town. Friendly clerk. Breakfast and breakfast area was accommidating.

Summer Vacation - Day 7

St. Louis (3 hours - 185 miles)

HOTEL: Americans Best Value Inn and Suites
St. Charles, MO *
Review: Well there aren't words to describe how bad this hotel is. It is next to the Bass Pro Shop if that helps it. The worst breakfast!!

Summer Vacation - Day 6 Nauvoo

HOTEL: Nauvoo Log Cabins *****
Review: These are the only way in my opinion to stay in Nauvoo. You get the feel of the rustic and modern convience. We had the Nixon cabin. Sleeps 10.

Summer Vacation - Days 5 Nauvoo

Nauvoo is alot different then when James and I had visited. James was 7 and I was 16. Commercialized isn't the right word but that's how it kinda feels. The visitor center has all the tickets to the shows and rides as well as the history of Nauvoo and the Church. This is bad to say, but we got trapped by a sister missionary that wanted to give us a tour. It wasn't too bad.

We took a wagon tour of Old Nauvoo to get an overview of the town. It was fun to hear about the facts. We then started our tour of the individual homes and buildings of Nauvoo. The Family Living Center you can learn about the various day to day things that the pioneers had to do. Trevor and Mikah help with building a rope.


Then onto the Scovil Bakery were they give you a sample cookie. Some of there ideas, like the summer kitchen, aren't that bad of an idea now. We went onto see Lyon Drug and Variety Store, Brigham Young Home, John Taylor House, Print Shop, Stoddard Tin Shop and Pendleton Home and Log School.

At the Post Office we learned how they wrote a letter on one sheet of paper to save postage. We also met a sister who was related to a couple in our ward, the Salmons.



Did you know that Browning, the gunmaker, lived in Nauvoo? He and his son where true pioneers in gunmaking.




We went and saw the High Hopes and River Boats producation. It takes true pioneer stories and puts then in play form. The missionaries do a really good job. We headed on over the to the temple grounds. Did you know that the Nauvoo Temple is open on Mondays? After dinner I had to do laundry so the others went back to the temple grounds and got some nice night shots.

Summer Vacation - Day 4

Nauvoo, IL (7 hours - 428 miles)

More car time. The kids have done rather well up to now considering that they don't have a computer to watch videos on. We found a northern route that would take us out of the city on to Iowa. As you can see there are no people with our sign. There was to much water. One thing that is nice the further east we go, the states become smaller and not so far to travel through. It's under a five hour drive to get from one end of the state to the other. It is a rather green state. We noticed that don't have irrigation systems for their fields.


Our first stop of the day was one that at the last minute we decided to add, LeClaire, IA. It's a small town that sits on the Mississippi River and home to one of Trevor's favorite television shows; American Pickers. He was so excited to go she the shop. We saw Mike's brother and briefly spoke with him. It was cool to see some of the items in the shop that we had watch them collect on the show.




Thirty minutes away and another state, John Deere, Moline, IL. Home of the green machines. The pavilion is a large glass building that houses several machines. The new tractors have nice amenities; air conditioning, satelite, stereo, cushy seats. In the gift shop they have some farming videos to watch. They show the farmers the different type of equipment that they can use for various types of farming. I don't know how farmers can afford the farm. James say's it's usually the bank that farms.

Onto the main event, Nauvoo, IL. We rolled in about 6:30 pm. We are staying at the Nauvoo Log Cabins. These are actual log cabins that have been moved to Nauvoo. We found a great little restuarant called Ziggie's. It's family owned and the owners and the food are wonderful. It was probably one of the best pizzas I have ever tasted. They told us that tomorrow nights desserts are cheesecake and german chocolate cake. Our favorites!! We'll be back tomorrow.

We knew that we were coming into rain and we weren't let down. But not before an amazing lighting storm. I hadn't see anything like it. The fireflies were out in force as well.

Summer Vacation - Day 3

Omaha, NE (8 hours - 523 miles)

Yea! We left on time. Mount Rushmore is only 30 minutes south. We lucked out with a beautiful morning. The pass into Mount Rushmore is only $11 and is good for a year. It is non-transferable. They put your license plate on the pass.

James will tell you, I have wanted to go to Rushmore for awhile. It is a little farther than a weekend trip. I don't know why. It is amazing to look at the faces. I wish we could have seen it lit up at night. We spent just under two hours. We walked through the museum and watched the Building of Mt Rushmore movie. There is a brief tour with a ranger that takes you up a little closer.



Next stop, Wall Drug. Don't bother unless you have to stop for the FREE water. It's an over priced hamburger. James says, "As Mt Rushmore is a testament to big vision, Wall Drug is a testament to great marketing."



You do lose an hour on this leg of the trip. The drive across the rest of the state is long and boring. It's flat and really not pretty. The closer we got to Omaha the more water appeared. It was a slower drive because they would continually move you over to get away from the river. Just short of reaching Omaha we had to make a detour, an hours worth. So we didn't get our Welcome to Nebraska sign. Council Bluffs was pretty close to being under water do to the decision of the Army Corp of Engineers wanting to save down river. We were so glad to get to the hotel.

HOTEL: Comfort Suites (***)
Review - (2 queen bed suite, internet, breakfast) The bed was good. It was just a plain room. The breakfast was good.

Summer Vacation - Day 2

Rapid City, SD (10 hours - 525 miles)

We got off as scheduled. It was a cool morning at Yellowstone, 34 degrees and a chance of rain. A seven day pass to Yellowstone is $25 dollars, too bad that we are just driving through. Since the water is running high this year, we decided to check out the Upper and Lower Falls. We did get slowed down by some Bison. On the way out the East Entrance, you ride by Yellowstone Lake. It had chunks of ice. Some of the views reminded me of mornings on the Oregon coast.


We geared up to visit Devil's Tower by watching Close Encounters. James as actually there when they filmed the movie. The town looks a little bigger now. If you want to visit the visitors center you need to get there before 7pm. As you drive in you pass through Prairie Dog town. Some will come right up to you looking for food.



We drove right into a rain storm with a tornado watch. It was just raining sheets, it was great!! You would drive in the streets and it would just spray.

HOTEL: Country Inn & Suites (*****)
Review - (2 queen bed suite; mini kitchen, internet, breakfast) HUGE room!! The bed was wonderful after the last one. Top notch breakfast. Off the same road you need for Mount Rushmore.

Sumer Vacation - Day 1

Boise to West Yellowstone, MT (6 hours - 387 miles)

The start was alright. Small detour outside of Burley, the charger on my computer died and it's slightly cooler than I would like, but hey we're on vacation.

We have four drivers to break up the whole trip (3700 miles). Connor started the first leg. We trade drivers each time we fill up for gas, roughly 300 miles. He was all excited to drive but now his butt and neck are tired. So at dinner, I pointed out that now he can appreciate all the trips that his Dad drives most of the way.

A trip to West Yellowstone has to include a trip to the Playmill. We saw Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dream Coat. They did an awesome job.



Hotel: Gray Wolf Inn & Suites (**)
Review - (2 queen beds, internet, breakfast) The most expensive room of all the reservations. Prepaid. Bed was less than stellar. The breakfast was poor. No fresh fruit and few menu choices.

Thanksgiving

The kids had the week of Thanksgiving off from school and I wanted to go some place warm. So we headed to James's parents condo in St. George. I found out that Joel and Cheryl Leithead were going to be there for a soccer tournament and invited them to stay with us.

We went to Vegas one afternoon because some people (Trevor) felt left out when I took Anna in the spring. We hit the hi-lits of the strip. When we went into the Venetian hotel, there was a statue and Trevor wanted to have his picture taken with him. Little did he know that it was a street performer and he put his hand on Trevor and made him jump!

Joel's family came and hung out with us for the weekend. It was great to catch up and play around.

Family Vacation

We were lucky enough the get James's friends cabin in Cascade again. We had four great days to relax. There was one small incident, the boat key broke in the ignition. James took it apart and we had to make a trip to McCall to get a "few" keys made. Other than that hiccup, it's always fun in sun.


Connor

Mikah

James

Me

Trevor

Sorry no Alexia